Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced structural reforms in eight sectors which include coal, minerals, defence production, airports and civil aviation, social segments like health and education, power distribution, space and atomic energy.

The minister has made broad counters about each sector known. These are the biggest reforms ever announced by the NDA government including its previous term. This policy statement is about growth-oriented reforms and as expected to boost the overall business environment in India. It appears that the government has decided to convert the Covid-19 emergency into an opportunity. The future of these reforms would depend on actually how successfully India is able to control the spread of coronavirus in the post-lockout phase. All will depend on how fast the country can go back to normalcy.

It has been declared that the specific details in regards every sector would be announced by the respective ministries and departments. Since “the devil is in the detail” hence at this point in time, it would be difficult to undertake a very detailed assessment of these reforms. However, still, some broad assessment looks possible.